Crowd seeing Donald B. MacMillan off, Wiscasset, 1927

MacMillan once described Wiscasset as “…the lovely Maine town, rich in historic association; the red-brick building of the custom house and post office; …the beautiful evergreens; the sun-flecked harbor…” and had said that the town would always be the home of his expeditions.

The townspeople were also very supportive of MacMillan and his expeditions, donating a marine clock and sextant and other items for use on the Bowdoin.

Photographers aboard the Bowdoin, Wiscasset, 1926

Embarkation days were declared business holidays in Wiscasset and the morning of these days "principally taken up by the members of the expedition posing for newspaper and news reel camera men."

A newspaper described the farewell ceremony of 1926 as a “second Flag Day” with people traveling over road and water -- via sailing vessels and houseboats -- to bid farewell and give their blessings to MacMillan and his crew.

State Highway officers arrived at noon to manage the traffic and congestion. Many “No Parking” signs were placed in front of the temporary soft-drink booths.

Schooner Bowdoin departing Wiscasset, 1926

In 1926, MacMillan and his crew attended a banquet at the Wiscasset Inn the night before the departure.

There MacMillan presented some interesting facts about the trip and “on other matters of interest around the northern regions.”

The following day, after a luncheon at the Wiscasset Inn, the formal ceremonies began with the Waldoboro Button Band playing and leading the party of explorers, Maine Governor Owen Brewster and other guest speakers to the green in front of the Congregational Church.

Donald B. MacMillan, Wiscasset, 1926

The 1926 trip was one of MacMillan's shorter expeditions, lasting three months.

The purpose was to collect various animal, bird, fish, and geological specimens for scientific study and exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago.

MacMillan noted at the farewell ceremony that the expedition “was favored with brilliant scientific men.”

Scientists on the voyage included Alfred Weed, ichthyologist for the Field Museum; Alfred C.M. Martin, a geologist from Cornell University; Charles S. Sewell, a botanist from Wiscasset; and Novio Bertrand, a taxidermist from Chicago.

One of the specimens collected was a 1,500-pound walrus, shot in Melville Bay. It was to be reconstructed for display in the Field Museum.

Mary Metcalf, Maude Fisher, Marion Smith, Wiscasset, 1926

MacMillan would not allow women on the Bowdoin until 1938 when his wife, Miriam, joined him at the insistence of the crew.

The women were Mary Metcalf, wife of the owner of the Sachem III and daughter of MacMillan’s friend and botanist Charles Sewall; Marion Smith of Wiscasset, the great-granddaughter of the first Governor of Maine, William King; and Maude Fisher, Rowe Metcalf’s cousin.

MacMillan Expedition ceremony, Wiscasset , 1926

On the trip, MacMillan also wanted to determine the extent of early exploration of the Vikings through the scientific study of Norse ruins in South Greenland and Labrador.

They had found the remnants of human habitation on Scuipin Island, 20 miles off Nain, Labrador. While the shape of the ruins indicated rock foundations of a dozen or so houses, the expedition was unable to prove that Vikings built the structures.

The Inuit story, passed down through generations, was that “stone igloos were built by men who came from the sea in boats. They call the place Tunitvik, which in the Inuit tongue signifies 'the place of the Norsemen.' "

Schooner Bowdoin passing the dock, Wiscasset, 1926

After the Bowdoin was under way, a fleet of pleasure craft accompanied it down the Sheepscot River.

One of the escorts was the “palatial houseboat” the Gadfly, owned by Frederick Rawson.

Before the Bowdoin left the Wiscasset waterfront, MacMillan reported in his logbook that day, "We circled the harbor and then at full-speed shot past the end of the pier for the benefit of the motion picture operators."